Latest news with #Crafted
Irish Daily Mirror
6 days ago
- Business
- Irish Daily Mirror
Applegreen confirms when and where Ireland's first Taco Bell will open
Applegreen will open Ireland's first Taco Bell restaurant in September as part of a €15 million investment in a new motorway service area at Junction 6 on the M3 in Dunshaughlin, Co Meath. Applegreen is creating just over 100 new jobs at the new Dunshaughlin facility, which will also include an M&S Food shop-in-shop outlet, a new Braeburn Coffee Café, a Burger King restaurant, and Crafted, Applegreen's bespoke new deli offering. The new service area will also have an Applegreen convenience store, a service station forecourt, and an initial 8 ultra-Fast EV charging ports, capable of speeds up to 400kW, with more chargers to come when further power is available at the site. 'When we announced our plan to bring Taco Bell to Ireland back in April, we were thrilled to see that our customers were just as excited as we were about bringing Taco Bell here,' said Seamus Stapleton, Managing Director of Applegreen's Republic of Ireland business. 'We're delighted to confirm today that Ireland's first Taco Bell will be located at Applegreen's new motorway service area on the M3 at Dunshaughlin and it will open in September. We plan to open several additional Taco Bell restaurants at our Irish locations over the next five years, and we will update consumers as soon as we have more news of future restaurants.' Applegreen (Image: Google Maps) Matthew Johnson, New Market Lead for Taco Bell Europe said that 'by partnering with Applegreen, Taco Bell is able to bring our iconic menu and unique dining experience to Ireland and continue to grow as a global brand.' The partnership with Applegreen 'will enhance Taco Bell's presence in Europe, solidifying our regional footprint but also propelling our global growth ambitions,' he added. The opening of the new Dunshaughlin motorway service area is part of Applegreen's €1 billion plan to expand its business in Ireland, the UK and the United States over the next five years, according to Mr Stapleton. 'This is a very significant addition to the Applegreen network in Ireland, as we're opening a state-of-the-art new facility on the M3, which up until now didn't have a dedicated services option.' Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest news from the Irish Mirror direct to your inbox: Sign up here.
RTÉ News
6 days ago
- Business
- RTÉ News
Applegreen to open Taco Bell in new €15m motorway service area on M3
Fuel and forecourt retailer Applegreen said it will open the country's first Taco Bell restaurant in September as part of a €15m investment in a new motorway service area at Junction 6 on the M3 in Dunshaughlin in Co Meath. Applegreen is creating just over 100 new jobs at the new Dunshaughlin facility. It will include an M&S Food shop-in-shop outlet, a new Braeburn Coffee Café, a Burger King restaurant, and Crafted - Applegreen's new deli offering - as well as a convenience store, a service station forecourt, and an initial eight ultra-Fast EV charging ports, with more chargers to come when further power is available at the site. The opening of the new Dunshaughlin motorway service area is part of Applegreen's €1 billion plan to expand its business in Ireland, the UK and the US over the next five years. The Dunshaughlin facility is Applegreen's largest single investment project in Ireland this year. Applegreen opened its first service station in Ballyfermot in Dublin in 1992 and now operates almost 200 locations in the Irish market. It typically invests over €50m every year in the Irish market on new store openings, upgrades and improvements. The company has been rapidly expanding its partnership with M&S Food in recent years and now offers M&S products at 30 of its outlets. It plans to expand the partnership to 60 outlets over the medium term. Seamus Stapleton, Managing Director of Applegreen's Republic of Ireland business, said the company plans to open several additional Taco Bell restaurants at its Irish locations over the next five years. "The new Dunshaughlin service area will also see the launch our new Crafted Kitchen & Deli - offering good, honest Irish food, crafted just for you. Crafted will bring a range of new products and will also continue to offer customers deli favourites, such as chicken fillet rolls and breakfast rolls," he added. Matthew Johnson, New Market Lead for Taco Bell Europe, said that by partnering with Applegreen, Taco Bell is able to bring its iconic menu and unique dining experience to Ireland and continue to grow as a global brand. "The partnership will Applegreen will enhance Taco Bell's presence in Europe, solidifying our regional footprint but also propelling our global growth ambitions," he added. In the US, Applegreen has 181 sites, and more than 300 branded food outlets. It was recently awarded a 35-year contract to operate 18 highway service plazas in Massachusetts. Applegreen will invest $750m to build nine new service areas and upgrade and modernise the other nine locations. It also recently started work on a new $70m project to build four new highway service plazas in Colorado. In the UK, Applegreen's Welcome Break business operates 60 sites, including 36 motorway service areas, and 31 hotels.
Winnipeg Free Press
14-07-2025
- General
- Winnipeg Free Press
A deepening of public service
Opinion Last week, after 17 years at the helm, I stepped down as director and CEO of the Winnipeg Art Gallery and Qaumajuq to launch a new cultural initiative called Civic Muse. I wanted to take a moment to share a few reflections on what we've built together at the WAG — and why this work continues to matter so deeply to me. In recent years, museums and galleries have been called upon to do more and to be more in the communities around them. They've become much more than places for art and contemplation. They've evolved into centres for dialogue, reconciliation, innovation, and safety. Calls from the community have breathed new life into the WAG, enriching and expanding our purpose in ways I couldn't have imagined when I first arrived. During my time leading the WAG and Qaumajuq, we raised over $75 million to create new cultural spaces and programs, secured another $60 million in sponsorships and donated artworks, and established million-dollar endowments for Indigenous and Canadian art acquisitions. We brought major exhibitions to Winnipeg and produced countless shows celebrating local and Canadian artists, highlighted the gallery's world-class permanent collection, connected deeply with the K–12 and post-secondary curricula, created signature events like the Gallery Ball, Crafted and Art in Bloom, forged partnerships across the country and internationally, and positioned the WAG as a global cultural and community destination — now Canada's fifth-largest art museum. But the truth is, what I'm most proud of isn't captured by fundraising totals, visitor counts, or architectural accolades — though all are impressive and uplifting. It's how we responded to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action for museums, how we embraced UNDRIP, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and how we worked to embed equity into every layer of the institution's life. These initiatives tied us more closely to the community, giving a place and a voice to people who had long been on the margins of the museum conversation. Today, the trust, respect, and dialogue between the WAG and the community are stronger than ever — and that partnership ensures the gallery's purpose remains not only relevant, but vital. I'm often asked by colleagues around the world how we accomplished what we did at the WAG: how we opened Qaumajuq, built a world-leading collection of contemporary Inuit art, developed new models for program and exhibition co-development, reshaped our public mission, life-long learning platforms, and our organizational structure and business model. The answer, simply, is that we rethought our vision of what a museum is and whom it serves. We let the community lead us, challenge us, and change us. Using art for positive change in the community really works — and truly matters. That's why I've decided to step down after 17 years as Director and CEO — to help other cultural organizations, in Canada and beyond, along their own paths of rethinking the museum. Through Civic Muse, the new consultancy I've launched here in Winnipeg, I'm partnering with museums, universities, collectors, governments, and business and community organizations to advance cultural projects that place trust, equity, and creativity at the centre of civic life. This isn't a departure from public service; it's a deepening of it. It's a chance to work alongside boards, staff, artists, and communities — to share what I've learned, to learn anew from others, and to help shape institutions that can meet this moment with courage and accountability. Tuesdays A weekly look at politics close to home and around the world. If you're curious, I've shared more at including a new blog where I write about promising experiments, hard lessons, and the ideas pushing our field forward. I'd love for you to follow along, challenge these reflections, and share your own insights. Above all, I want to say thank you. Thank you for the friendships, encouragement, and shared commitment that have carried me through this important work at the WAG and throughout my museum and academic career. I'm excited to see where we can go next — together. Stephen Borys is president of Civic Muse Inc. and the former director and CEO of the Winnipeg Art Gallery.
